UK Parliament — House of Commons

Order ID:173

All versions of this Order

Date	Title	Text
2022 — 30th November	89 Procedure in general committees	(1)		Except as provided in Standing Order No. 93 (Scottish Grand Committee (composition and business)), Standing Order No. 102 (Welsh Grand Committee (composition and business)), Standing Order No. 109 (Northern Ireland Grand Committee (composition and business)), Standing Order No. 117 (Regional Affairs Committee) and Standing Order No. 119 (European Committees) the quorum of a general committee shall be seventeen or one third of the number of its members excluding the chair, whichever is the less; and in calculating the quorum fractions shall be counted as one.
		(2)		The public shall be admitted to a general committee unless the committee otherwise orders.
		(3)	(a)	Any notice of an amendment to a bill which has been committed or referred to a general committee, or of a motion relative to a European Union document or documents or an amendment thereto given under Standing Order No. 119 (European Committees) shall stand referred to the committee, and the chair shall have the like powers as are given to the Speaker, the Chairman of Ways and Means and either Deputy Chairman respectively by Standing Order No. 32 (Selection of amendments).
			(b)	Standing Orders No. 29 (Powers of chair to propose question), No. 36 (Closure of debate) and No. 37 (Majority for closure or for proposal of question) shall apply to general committees, except that the number necessary to render the majority effective for the closure or for the proposal of the question shall be the number prescribed as the quorum by paragraph (1) of this order.
			(c)	The chair of a general committee shall have the like powers as are given to a chair of a committee of the whole House under the following Standing Orders: No. 35 (Dilatory motion in abuse of rules of House), No. 42 (Irrelevance or repetition), No. 42A (Sub judice), and No. 68 (Debate on clause or schedule standing part).
			(d)	The following Standing Orders shall apply to general committees: No. 124 (Quorum of select committees), No. 128 (Entry on formal minutes of select committee), and No. 129 (Formal minutes to be reported).
		(5)		All general committees shall have leave to print and circulate their proceedings with the Vote.
		(4)		On a division being called in the House or a committee of the whole House the chair of a general committee shall suspend the proceedings of the committee for such time as will, in his opinion, enable Members to vote in the division and return to the committee.